SOFIA: Bulgaria's unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent in December from 6.9 percent a month earlier as seasonal job opportunities decreased during the winter months, data from the state employment agency showed on Monday.
The average monthly unemployment rate was 7.2 percent last year, the lowest in nine years, the agency said, as the country's economy accelerated, creating new jobs. The average monthly jobless rate in 2016 was 8.7 percent.
Some 232,000 were unemployed in the Balkan country of 7.1 million during last month, when about 12, 700 found work.
The finance ministry expects the unemployment rate to fall to 6.2 percent this year and to 6.2 percent next year and 5.6 percent in 2020 as domestic demand picks up.
Economic growth in 2017 is forecast to have reached 4 percent from a revised 3.9 percent in 2016.
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